The first LakeDavis Thanksgiving
by Tempest2004
Summary: First, Georgia invited her family. Then Chester invited his. Then it got interesting. A just in time Thanksgiving fic, for once. Enjoy! Please RandR!


I'm sorry, this kind of petered out at the end. I ran out of steam, running around to get everything ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I had to rush to get it finished in time for the holiday and try to have it good. I think it missed the mark, there around the end. Well, anyway, this is the first fic I've posted here in a long while, so enjoy!!

Disclaimer: Dick Wolf only owns Chester Lake, Elliot, Olivia, Cragen, Munch and Fin. Georgia, Maggie, Amanda, Blake, Marcus, Ryan, Will, Tommy, Eric, Johnny, the Red Horse Ranch, and Pete belong to me. The _Star Wars_ magazine and all the entails belongs to George Lucas and company.

* * *

Georgia glanced up from the _Star Wars_ magazine she was reading as Chester walked in the door. She drew her legs to leave him some room on the couch, laid her feet on his lap after he'd thrown his coat on a chair and flopped down. He rubbed her bare feet and a tired smile wound onto his face as she sighed contentedly, magazine flopping onto her stomach.

"Have a bad day?" Georgia asked, smiling at him. His head lolled back as he continued to rub.

"I really missed havin' you around today." he said, fingers easing up on the pressure. Georgia's sigh melted into a moan. "This temporary partner of mine, the woman is a fruitcake." Chester said, shaking his head. "She runs around like a chipmunk on a sugar high. I want to yell at her to sit down for once, but..." Chester shook his head.

"Sounds like she needs decaff. coffee to me." Georgia said. With a groan, Chester squeezed her foot.

"Munchkin still at school?" Chester asked. Georgia looked at the clock.

"Well, you're home early, so Amanda's still at school for another few hours, why?" she asked when she saw that familiar glint in his eyes.

"Because you can a bad day much better." he said, a faint grin on his face. Georgia laughed and sat up to kiss him.

---------

Georgia sighed, settling into Chester's arms. He kissed her forehead and stroked her hair.

"You know, the holidays are coming up." Georgia said. Chester sighed.

"You want to invite your whole family?" he asked. Georgia laughed.

"Hell no! If I do there is no jury in the world that would convict me." Georgia said. Chester chuckled. "No, what I had in mind is that we invite your aunt and uncle, my dad, brothers and one of my brother's partner." Georgia said, shifting so she was resting on her elbows on his chest.

"Partner?" Chester asked. Georgia rolled her eyes.

"My older brother Tommy, not the oldest, but the one born before I was, his partner is foreman for the ranch. Eric Tamblin." Georgia said and there was a defiance in her eyes, daring him to say something about her older brother.

"Then he's invited too. Can I invite my cousin Marcus? He's like my brother." Chester asked. Georgia pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Then he's invited too." Georgia said. Chester kissed her again, growling as he rolled on top of her.

-----

Georgia sighed as Chester left the bedroom. She reached for the phone and dialed a number she'd remember all of her life. She leaned forward, legs drawn up to her chest as listened to the ring on the other end. Finally someone picked up.

"Rocking Horse Ranch, how can I help you?" a voice asked and Georgia grinned.

"What, don't recongize your own sister?" she asked. Tommy Davis laughed out loud.

"_Bébé_! What are you up to?" he asked.

"You know the holidays are coming up, right? Chester and I were hoping you, Eric, Daddy, Johnny and Will could come up to New York. Chester's going to invite his aunt, uncle, and cousin too." Georgia said.

"Well, I don't know, honey. I need to talk to Daddy..." Tommy trailed off as their father walked into the office. He mouthed 'Georgia' and Ryan Davis' eyes lit up.

"Let me talk to her." he said. Tommy passed the phone over and moved out of the chair so Ryan could sit down. "Georgia, honey, how's New York treating you?" he asked, leaning back in the chair and resting his feet on the desk.

"Good, Daddy, real good. Anyway, I called because with the holidays coming up, I was wondering if you, Johnny, Tommy, Eric and Will could come up for Thanksgiving? Chester will be inviting his aunt, uncle and cousin." Georgia added. Ryan was silent for a long moment as he chewed his lower lip. "The ranch can get along without you guys for a while. I'm sure Eric has someone who can run things for a bit." Georgia said enticingly. Ryan chuckled on the other end.

"We'll be there, _cher_." Ryan said. Georgia grinned.

"That's great. We'll be here waiting for you! Love you, Daddy." Georgia said. After her father's good-bye, she hung up and turned to Chester. "Daddy and the boys will be here for Thanksgiving." Georgia said and waggled the phone at Chester. "Your turn, _bébé_." Georgia said and Chester cocked his eyebrow at her.

"What did you say?" he asked. Georgia laughed.

"_Bébé_. It means 'baby'. Go on, call your folks." she said, laying back in the bed. Chester rolled his eyes at his fianceé, but dialed the familiar number anyway. After two rings, his uncle answered.

"Hi, Uncle Blake." Chester said and smiled at his uncle's enthusiastic greeting. "Is Aunt Maggie there?" he asked and after a moment, his aunt came on the line.

"Hi, sweetheart, how are you? How is work?" she asked. Chester laughed and answered her questions.

"Listen, Aunt Maggie, Uncle Blake. How would you guys like to come down for Thanksgiving? Georgia, my fianceé is cooking. She's great." he said. Blake exchanged looks with Maggie.

"Sweetie, I don't know," Maggie started uncertainly. "We don't want to intrude of your first holiday together." she said. Chester laughed.

"Auntie, we've already shared a christmas, we've adopted a daughter together, we have a dog and here PDQ* we are going to get married. Family is welcome. Her father, three brothers and the middle brother's partner is coming. I was going to invite Marcus and Elizabeth too." Chester said. Maggie looked at Blake who mouthed "accept it!"

"All right, dear. We'll be there. But Elizabeth and Marcus are divorcing. Thankfully." Maggie added, relief clear in her tone.

"What?! Why?" Chester demanded.

"God only knows, Chester. Marcus said they put 'irreconcilable differences' on the petition and the courts agreed on it. Elizabeth only has to sign them and she hasn't done it yet." Maggie said. The distaste when she said her daughter-in-laws name was clear and almost venom like.

"Well, I'll invite Marcus anyway. Maybe time around family and friends will cheer him up." Chester said as Georgia moved to press kisses up his spine. "I have to go guys, come down the day before and meet Georgia's family and Amanda and Georgia and everything will be great, okay?" he asked, shivering as Georgia's fingers trailed down his sides.

"Hang up the phone, Chester." Georgia whispered in the opposite ear, nibbling on his earlobe. He closed his eyes.

"All right, Aunt Maggie, Uncle Blake. See you soon. Love you too, bye now." he said and hung up the phone. Dropping it on the nightstand, he turned to kiss Georgia fiercely.

----The day before Thanksgiving----

Georgia stretched in the bed, not sure if she wanted to get up or not. With a little finaglingly and some outright begging, Chester had managed to have to only go in for work for three hours. Of course, two of those three hours happened to strand Georgia, Amanda and Pete smack dab in the middle of Chester's aunt, uncle and cousin and Georgia's own family.

"Hey, you." a voice said in her ear, something warm snaking around her waist.

"Mmm, hey, yourself." Georgia said and indulged in a sleepy kiss. After a second, Chester pulled back with a smile. He was already mostly dressed, his dark blue button-up shirt hanging open and the lighter blue tie hanging undone. "How long have you been up?" Georgia asked. His grin blossomed into a grin.

"Long enough to greet your family." he said and took and involuntary step back as Georgia's eyes popped open wide.

"They're here?!" Georgia demanded, jumping out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans to go over her panties and under her "Cowgirl up" sleeping tank.

"Yeah, arrived a few minutes ago. That's why I came to wake you up." Chester said, watching in amazement as she wriggled into a baby blue angora sweater, a birthday gift from Olivia.

"Thanks, babe." she said, pausing to give him another kiss, then darted out the door. "Daddy! Johnny, Tommy, Eric, Will!" she said and hugged her family in that order. Pete began jumping up and down, turning in circles and barking his fool head off at seeing his mistress so excited.

"Hey, hey! Slow down, whirlwind!" Ryan Davis laughed as his daughter hugged him again.

"Morn-" a small voice said, cutting through the racket Pete was making. Georgia turned and smiled to see the sleepy mess of her daughter staring with wide eyes at the strangers in her home.

"Amanda, sweetheart, it's okay. Come here." Georgia said and the blonde walked slowly to her mother and hugged her as Georgia put an arm around her shoulders. "This is your Grandpa Ryan," Amanda stared at the bright green eyed, redheaded man. "Your Uncles Johnny, Tommy, Tommy's partner Eric and Will." she said. Amanda's eyes flickered between them all. Then she looked up at Georgia.

"All of them are my uncles?" she asked. Georgia laughed.

"Well, you don't have to call them 'uncle', but I would appreciate it if you call my dad 'grandpa' or 'grandfather' Ryan." Georgia said. Amanda looked at them, then waved uncertainly. Tommy, who had a knack with children, stepped forward and knelt to her level.

"I bet Petey here," he said as the chocolate lab rushed forward to shower his face with doggy kisses. "Needs to walked. How about you get your coat and boots, then you, me and Eric can take him for a walk. Is that okay, Georgia?" he asked looking up at her. Georgia looked down at Amanda, who looked surprisingly eager, and nodded.

"That'd be great, bro, thanks. Go get Pete's leash and your coat and boots, kiddo." Georgia said. Pete heard the word 'leash' and followed Amanda faithfully towards her room.

"She's a good kid. Far more normal than she should be." Ryan said gravely. Georgia nodded.

"Yeah, but we don't dwell on it. Thank you again for taking her and Pete for a walk, you guys." Jessie said. Tommy waved his hand as Eric smiled.

"We love kids. Matter of fact, we were thinking of adopting. We're in that big house mostly alone." Tommy shrugged. Ryan's eyebrows rose.

"I didn't know that." Ryan said. Eric shrugged.

"We're only thinking about, Ryan. We have a lot more talking before we can decide." the foreman said. Tommy smiled and squeezed his love's hand. Amanda and Pete reappeared a few minutes later. The chocolate lab was proudly carrying his leash, tail swinging back and forth happily. After a brief tug of war, Amanda got the leash away from him, clipped it to his chain despite his wiggling and the quartet left the house with Pete in the lead.

"Georgia, sweetheart," Chester said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arm around her waist. "I gotta go to work. Can you handle this crew?" he asked. Georgia smiled and kissed him.

"I've got my whip and chair in the hall closet, I'm well equiped, babe. Tell everyone I said 'hi'." Georgia said. Chester smiled and kissed her again before leaving.

"You two seem happy." Johnny commented as he and Georgia went into the kitchen to make breakfast as Ryan and Will went up the before previously unnoticed stairwell to the extra bedrooms that been updated during Georgia's three month medical leave.

"We are. Amanda is a great kid, Pete is doing just fine and we both love each other, our daughter and our jobs. Life is good." Georgia said as she dove into the refrigerator for eggs and bacon, both organically produced, of course.

"What about that house from Aunt Valerie? Do you still have it?" Johnny asked and there was something in his tone that set Georgia's hackles into the upright position. She finished cracking the egg and for a moment, the only sound in the kitchen was the sizzle as the egg fried. When Georgia spoke, it was quietly and with great deliberation.

"You're doing it again, John." she said. John shook his head.

"I just want to see you happy." he said. Georgia shook her head and turned to face her brother, hands on her hips.

"No, you're trying to pick this apart, just like all my other relationships with men. John, I love Chester and he loves me. I will not let you pick this great life I have apart. I will not allow it. So take your analyzing and point at something else. Like that bacon you're burning in my best skillet." she said and turned away as Johnny dove for the spatula.

"I see you two are getting along as usual." Ryan said as he came down the stairs with Will behind him.

"Just fine, Daddy. I'm happy here, that's all." Georgia said and turned away to add more eggs to the frying pan. After a while, Amanda, Tommy, Eric and Pete came back in time for breakfast. Not long after that, Chester's aunt, uncle and cousin arrived. Pete was banished outside for a while Georgia settled everyone in.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Lake." Georgia said warmly as she opened the door. "Marcus, right?" she said. The other man nodded.

"Please, call me Maggie." Chester's aunt said, smiling. Georgia nodded and flinched as Amanda let out a screech.

"Amanda Jessica Lake! What the heck was that for?" Jessie demanded. Amanda pointed at the T.V. where the screen was paused on a monster in the video game she was playing.

"Sorry, Mom." she said. Georgia only shook her head and smiled at her daughter.

"It's okay, sweetie. The Flood surprised me the first time I played that level of _Halo_ too." Georgia said, hugging her daughter. She turned back to the extended family and flashed a slightly nervous smile.

"You can call me Blake, kiddo." Chester's uncle said. Georgia nodded again.

"Great, Maggie, Blake, let me show you upstairs. You guys left some rooms empty, right?" Georgia asked of her brothers and father. They all voiced their agreement and Georgia lead the two upstairs. Marcus had a brownstone not far from where Chester lived, but as a favor to his cousin, had come over to help Georgia with the family.

"How long have you and Chester been together?" Maggie asked as Georgia showed them their room.

"Little over a year now." Georgia said and stood in the doorway. "I'll leave you two to get settled in. Have you already eaten?" Georgia asked.

"We have." Blake said and Georgia nodded, sighing when she heard a crash.

"That had better not be _Maman_'s vase. I'll have the head of whoever did it," the redhead muttered. "Your bathroom is right there, so if you'll excuse me, I have to rescue my house from my brothers." she said and pelted back downstairs. Maggie looked at her husband and the two laughed, recalling holidays like this.

-------

"William Emerson Davis, if that was Mama's vase I'll have your head on a pike, little brother!" Georgia yelled. She landed at the bottom of the stairs to see Pete enthusiastically licking up spilled milk. Amanda was in the middle of throwing away a broken glass. Will was having his hand bandaged by Tommy.

"Sorry, sis, it was an accident." he said. Georgia sighed.

"As long you aren't badly hurt, bro. Pete, get out of there." Georgia said, walking over to have a look at the spill. When she saw no glass shards, she waved the lab back over and patted his side. "You okay, Amanda?" she asked, turning to her 10 year-old. The little blonde nodded.

"Fine, Mom. I used leather gloves, like you taught me." Amanda said. Georgia nodded and walked out of the kitchen to sit on the couch with her father.

"Your mother would be proud of you." Ryan said, lifting his arm to lay around his daughter's shoulders.

"She always made entertaining all of our family so easy for the holidays." Georgia said. Ryan chuckled.

"Your mother always had a plan for everything." Ryan admitted.

"Yeah, Mama always was prepared." Georgia said. Maggie came down and looked around for her future niece. She found her sitting on the couch with her father and smiled.

"So, do you have everything ready, Georgia?" Maggie asked. Georgia sighed and got up from her comfortable position.

"Well, I still need butter for the stuffing, to cook the onion and celery." Georgia looked down at the torn jeans and stained T-shirt. "Would you like to come with me to grocery store, Maggie?" Georgia asked. Maggie nodded. Georgia hurried into her room and changed clothes. Re-emerging in a brown skirt and a stretch deep turquiose T-shirt, she slipped on a pair of deep blue low heels to match her outfit. She grabbed her gun and slipped it into her gun. "Shall we?" she said and opened the door. As they walked to Georgia's truck, Maggie watched her soon to be niece.

"How long have you been a cop?" Maggie asked as she strapped in. Georgia started the truck and backed out around her father's and brother's vehicles.

"Five years in Homocide in Michigan, a year off from that and then arrived here in New York for about three years in Major Case Crimes." Georgia said as she drove towards _Meijer_.

"So you've learned how to always carry a gun?" Maggie asked. Georgia nodded as she signaled a turn.

"Yeah. If you're a cop, you're always a cop. It doesn't matter where you go, you'll always have a badge and a gun." she said. The ride to _Meijer_ was silent as Maggie watched the scenery and Georgia.

-------

_Meijer_ wasn't as crowded as Georgia expected. She and Maggie walked the aisles to butter, bread, milk and something for dinner that night. For several.

"How long have you and Blake been married?" Georgia asked. Maggie had to stop and think before she answered.

"Oh, about fifty-two years now." she replied as the pair looked at books. Georgia picked up a book, perused it and then put it back. "I have to ask, do you love my nephew?" Maggie asked frankly. Georgia looked at Maggie.

"I love him more than anything in this world. I would give my life and soul for him." Georgia replied and an uspoken agreement passed between the two women. The two women, who might come to love each other, would put up with each other, if only for the sake of the man and the boy they both loved, during this holiday. With that settled, Maggie and Georgia went back to looking at books.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" Maggie asked. Georgia shrugged.

"We haven't talked about it. I'm kind of hoping we can spend it at home, with just us. I'm kind of tired of loud, crowded Christmas'. Two older brothers running around and yelling like hoodlums, a Cajun mother yelling orders with a patois that most of the servers couldn't understand, Daddy working outside while the chaos in the house threatened to overwhelm," Georgia shook her head, dropping the movies "G.I. Joe","Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" into the cart. The two women left the electronics department for the registers. "And me, sitting there playing with whatever happened to be shiny and loud from that morning. I'm ready for Amanda and Pete to come bouncing on the bed in the morning, waking us up, opening presents with the T.V. off, listening to christmas tunes on the radio, then making breakfast for us." Georgia shook her head. "The only real loud part of the day will hopefully be when some of our co-workers, Captain Cragen, Fin, Elliot, Olivia and their brood stopping by. Even Munch, if he's in the mood for company." Georgia said, shaking her head fondly.

"Munch? Chester mentioned him. He's jewish, isn't he?" Maggie asked. Georgia nodded. The conversation halted for a few minutes as they checked out and as the pair left the building after stopping to put on coats, hats and gloves against the cold November wind, it resumed.

"Yeah, John's jewish, but he doesn't really celebrated it. So the invitation to come for christmas will be open to all." Georgia shrugged. Maggie nodded silently and regarded the younger woman thoughtfully. Perhaps there was more than just an uncomprimising toughness to the young woman who her beloved nephew had fallen so deeply in love with.

-------------------

Later that day when Chester came home, he found the house nearly empty. He was quiet as he hung up his coat, kicked off his boots and padded on socked feet into the bedroom he shared with Georgia. There, sitting on the bed with crossed legs, his fianceé had her laptop on her legs and she was typing away, _Linkin Park_ CD playing the background.

"Hi, beautiful." Chester said, startling Georgia. She jumped and put a hand over her heart.

"Give me a heart-attack, why don't you?" she demanded, then smiled, closing the lid on her laptop for a kiss.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Where is everyone?" Chester asked, laying down next to her.

"Daddy, Tommy and Eric are fiddling with some project in their room, god only knows what _that_ could be. Amanda is out playing with Pete, Johnny and Will," Georgia motioned out the open window. "Marcus went back home for a while and your aunt and uncle are out having a little fun before they come back. Said something about spending a quiet few hours discussing me and how to seperate us." she said and caught the slightly panicked look on his face. Laughing, Georgia bent over and kissed his forehead. "Relax, _cher_, your uncle was joking about that last part." she said. Chester relaxed and kicked his socks off, sitting up and tossing his tie off onto a chair. Then he frowned as a thought occured.

"Why do you say that?" he said. Georgia paused to look down at him.

"Say what?"

"You know, _cher, bébé_ and _Maman_. Just toss them off like that." he said, running his hand up her back.

"Because my mother was Cajun." Georgia said and shrugged. "She worked in that office mostly filing because people had a hard time understanding her. When Daddy hit the lottery, she quit and her Acadian French just surfaced again. I tell you, the servers she hired to help with holiday meals kept complaining that they couldn't understand a word she was saying." Georgia laughed. "She used to say '_Cher_, if life don't have a little spice, then it up to us Cajuns to pour of the flavoring!'. _Maman_ was one of kind, I tell you what." she said. As Chester watched Georgia go back her vigorus typing, he figured that Georgia was all the spice his life needed.

"I would have liked to meet her." he said quietly. Georgia stopped typing, set her computer aside and settled down next to him.

"She would have loved you. She would have loved Amanda too. Mama always wanted grandchildren. She was alive when Tommy came out. She was quiet when he first told them, then she hugged him tight, pushed him back to arms length after a moment and said 'There are gonna be people in this life who won't like you, _Ma petite chou_, but you pay them no mind. What matter is here,' she touched his heart, then smiled and added 'You feel the way you want, son, and life is gonna fall in line for you'." Georgia laughed at the memory.

"So, when Thanksgiving gets over, what are we going to do for christmas?" Chester asked as Georgia settled her head on his shoulder.

"Stay home with just you, me, Amanda, and Pete. Open presents in the morning, have a nice breakfast and if they want, have the others from work over for Christmas dinner. I don't want no chaos on Christmas." Georgia said and Chester was forced to agree. Gradually the couple drifted off to sleep, holding each other tight.

------------

Georgia groaned at the sound of knocking. She was warm, her head on Chester's shoulder and the blankets were tucked around them, Georgia didn't want to get up. The knock came again, more insistant this time.

"G'way!" Georgia yelled. Chester groaned as Georgia tried to drift back to sweet, dark sleep.

"Georgia, Chester, it's dinner time." a voice said from the other side. For a second the voice didn't register, then Georgia's mind kicked into gear and she realized it was Maggie, Chester's aunt.

"'Kay, 'kay." Georgia said loudly and sighed. Nuzzling Chester's neck, Georgia kissed him gently. "Wake up, babe. It's dinner time and your aunt is at the door." she murmured. Chester groaned and woke up.

"All right." he said and rolled out of bed. Georgia stretched and waited for Chester to exit the bathroom. When he came out, Georgia went in.

-----

"Hi, Aunt Maggie." Chester said, hugging his aunt. Maggie smiled and hugged her nephew back, then smoothed his wild, stand-up hair back down.

"Hi, sweetie. Dinner's on the table." she said. Nodding, Chester walked up to the table and leaned over to hug Amanda.

"Hey, squirt. Havin' fun?" he asked. Amanda nodded. "That's my girl." he said as Georgia emerged. Dinner was a quiet affair, with the adults discussing the differences in Michigan and New York weather.

"So, sis, are there any good clubs around here?" Tommy asked. Ryan rolled his eyes at his second oldest.

"Wouldn't know, bro. I don't go clubbing. There are some nice shops and cafés around here." Georgia said. Chester chuckled.

"She's real good at getting bargins at the black market." Chester added. Georgia laughed embarrassedly.

"Now wait a second here, I never said that was the black market. It was just a computer brought over from overseas." she said, holding up her hands.

"You just happened to be able to speak Mandarin, though." Chester asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was stationed in Okinawa in the Marines and there were some Chinese civilians who offered to teach me Cantonese and Mandarin. I took them up on the offer." Georgia said.

"I didn't know you spoke it." Ryan said, scooping up more macaroni and cheese and dropping it onto his plate.

"I don't really have much of a use for it, but if we ever need it at work, we don't have to rely on our psychatrist for interpretation." Georgia replied.

"It's always good to be useful." Maggie said suddenly. Georgia nodded.

"That it is, Maggie." she agreed.

----The next day, Thanksgiving morning----

Georgia shrieked as she was suddenly woke up to a cold nose on the small of her back. She rolled over and looked out from under the covers to see a chocolate tail wagging back and forth. Raising the blankets to look under the covers, she got her face licked.

"Get out of here, Pete." she said and the lab backed away. With a bunching of his muscles, the labrador launched himself onto the bed and Chester, who yelled in protest.

"Mangy mutt! Get off!" he yelled. This set off wiggling as Pete pawed the covers back and started licking. Chester, laughing despite himself, pushed the dog off.

"Morning, Mom. Morning, Dad." Amanda giggled from the doorway.

"You, little hellion, are going to pay for that." Georgia said omniously, but her threat was mellowed by her smile. Amanda squealed and ran out of the room. Pete wheeled around and launched off of Chester after Amanda. Groaning, Chester flopped back into the bed.

"Good morning." he said after a few minutes. Georgia laughed and snuggled up to him.

"Well," she said, fingers trailing over his chest. "It can be a good morning." she continued and kissed him.

----

"A frozen turkey, really?" Ryan asked an hour later as, after breakfast, Georgia prepared the bird with Chester's help.

"There really aren't many turkey farms around here, Daddy." Georgia replied as she used flour to coat the inside of the turkey bag.

"True, but a _frozen_ turkey? If you had asked, we could have brought a fresh turkey from home." Ryan said. Georgia sighed and looked at her father.

"_Peré_†, I love you so much, but shut up." Georgia said. Ryan raised his hands in surrender.

"Have it your way, _cher_." he said, watching as they wrestled the turkey into the bag. After a little math, and a calculator, they set the turkey in the oven at 450 for four hours. Walking into the living room, Georgia settled onto the floor to watch "Alvin and the Chipmunks" with Amanda. Pete laid down next to his mistress and rested his head on her leg.

"How long till the turkey's done?" Amanda asked. Georgia smiled.

"It's gonna be a while, honey. We just put it in for four hours." Georgia explained.

"What if we get hungry?" Amanda asked. Georgia smiled.

"Then I have a surprise for you." Georgia said. Amanda propped herself up on an elbow.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Watch the movie." Georgia said calmly. Amanda pouted and turned back to the movie. This didn't deter the 10 year-olds determination to find out what the surprise was. When it was finished and Pete needed to go outside, Amanda followed her adoptive mother to the door.

"Come on, Mom, tell me. What is the surprise?" Amanda said. Georgia was close-lipped about it, but that didn't stop the blonde. She just changed parents.

"Hey, shortstuff, what's up?" Chester asked as she hugged him.

"What's the surprise Mom has in case we get hungry?" Amanda asked.

"Now it wouldn't be a surprise if we told you, now would it?" Chester said and noticed her sighed of frustration. "What's the matter, kiddo?" he asked, sitting on the couch. Amanda shrugged.

"I don't know. This is just the first nice Thanksgiving I'll have and..." Amanda shrugged again.

"You're not quite sure how to go about it." Chester said and Amanda nodded. Chester nodded.

"Then I'll tell you what, the way to go about it just enjoy. Don't worry about your Mom's surprise, or anything else today. It's a holiday, we have family here and the house is bursting with people. That's the way a holiday should be, okay?" Chester said. Amanda nodded. "Good girl. Now why don't you and Pete go play in the snow? It'll be closer to dinner time when you come in, all right?" Chester asked. Amanda smiled and nodded, rushing off for her coat, boots, hat and gloves. She ran outside to play with the chocolate lab. Georgia came over and sat next to Chester.

"Is it my turn for the wisdom of St. Lake, patron saint of Labradors and Cajun princesses?" Georgia asked, leaning against him. Chester laughed.

"Princess?" he asked, holding her close.

"Well, Mama was a Cajun queen, so that would make me a princess." Georgia explained.

"I suppose." Chester said and they fell silent as the sounds of family chattering and working on various parts of Thanksgiving dinner.

-----

A half hour later, Amanda and Pete trooped in, wet, cold and hungry. Georgia was leaning into the fridge when she felt the blast of cold from the backdoor. She glanced up as Amanda hung her wet coat up and kicked her boots off. Pete shook the snow off and panted happily as he trotted over to his food dish.

"Hungry?" Georgia asked. Amanda nodded.

"Starving." she said. Georgia pulled out a blue glass bowl and set it on the table, grabbed a table knife and a box of crackers.

"Follow me, little girl." Georgia said. Amanda followed her mother out to the living room, where Georgia put the bowl down and lifted the tin foil off. "And thus we have the Cheeseball." Georgia smiled. "Try it." she said. Chester took the racker she'd made and bit into it. His eyes closed as he tasted it.

"That's good."

-----Three hours later----

The family sat down to dinner with Chester looking nervously at the turkey.

"What's wrong?" Georgia asked. Chester licked his lips.

"I'm, uh, not sure how to carve it." he said. Georgia laughed and showed him where to cut. Chester cut the turkey and passed it out.

"Wow, sis, this is good." Will said. Georgia smiled.

"Thank you. Daddy taught me how to make it." she said, nodding towards their father.

"I'm glad I did then." he said. Amanda was quiet as she ate. Marcus was sitting with his parents, who eating quietly.

"Everything okay, Aunt Maggie?" Chester asked. Maggie nodded.

"Just great, sweetheart." she said. When the meal was finished and the table cleared, the group walked out to the living room where Amanda took votes of which movie to put in. Tranformers won out and the 10 year-old put it in. Georgia snuggled up to Chester and rested her head on his shoulder to watch the movie. She leaned up by his ear.

"I love you." she whispered as the opening scenes played.

"I love you too, Georgia." he whispered back and kissed her forehead, before they both turned back to the movie.

------------

FIN

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Please RandR!


End file.
